The Elysian Twilight
by Carys Langley
Summary: /AU, 38 Sanzo x Hakkai/ Sanzo gets expelled and agrees to help out his Uncle Koumyou at his countryside onsen. Upon meeting the charismatic Hakkai, his life takes an unlikely turn. “...What if I told you I was Cho Gonou?” “I would shoot you."
1. Chapter 1

_**General Disclaimer:**_ Saiyuki (c) Minekura Kazuya. But oh, how I wish it was (c) Moi. Saiyuki is so going on my Christmas list.

_**Inspiration and Dedication:**_ _The Elysian Twilight _is the brainchild of the Almighty **Arice-sama** who also betaed this. Kudoes to her. _The Elysian Twilight _is dedicated to **Jaimie **as an apology for addicting you to slash. Sort of, I still think it isn't my fault...

_**A/N:**_ This was actually unearthed within the dark horrors that is my USB drive, to get Arice-sama to stop biting my head off, I have decided to post it. My first attempt at Saiyuki fanfiction, this is an AU piece so liberties will be taken, such as the fact that Sanzo now has parents. Also, there might be some OOCness on Sanzo's part although in my mind I can still see him acting like this, since he is younger and all. Please have a nice read.

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_**The Elysian Twilight**_

_**01**_

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Somehow, Sanzo's heart had sank in spite of itself when his mother had stopped screaming at him one day and held out a letter. She sounded very smug, and Sanzo almost wanted to shoot her in the face (had he his gun, but his father had confiscated it the moment he found out) and he didn't exactly want to shoot her because she hadn't looked so smug for a very long time and he had no reason to be annoyed. In fact, he was relieved that the incessant screaming had stopped.

"From your Uncle Koumyou."

In a way, correspondence of this nature wasn't so unusual anymore, ever since his expulsion a month ago, letters from all over, even from relatives he'd never known _existed _had sent letters that equated to hate mail. For what it was worth, Sanzo now knew that he had relatives in Thailand, India and even Greece. All of them were **ashamed**, utterly **shocked**, at how the great Genjyo Sanzo could get kicked out of school. What kind of _**idiot**_ brought a gun to school, anyway? That last one was the killer. Genjyo Sanzo was far from stupid.

But a letter from Uncle Koumyou himself...

Perhaps because Uncle Koumyou was one of those relatives that he actually liked and respected...perhaps that was the reason for the cold lump that formed in his throat, it tasted like stale iron, or maybe bullet lead. No matter how many times he swallowed, the lump wouldn't go away. Sanzo stared at the envelope for a long, long moment before taking it reluctantly.

"I'm going to read it in my room."

With that, he stalked down the hall and slammed the door.

-

His room afforded Sanzo a feeling of calm that couldn't be found in any other part of the house. His room, unlike the rooms of his peers was painfully austere, but it still managed to be messy. Sanzo clicked the lock on the door and sank down on the mattress.

His sheets smelled dusty, they needed to be changed. He hadn't been out of the house for a whole month, yet he still kept forgetting. Or maybe because he didn't want to incur the wrath of his mother more than he absolutely had to. Asking her for fresh sheets would have entailed talking to her, something he didn't exactly like—or want to do.

Not that his father was any better, except avoiding him was easier, avoiding him meant not coming downstairs from eight-thirty onwards. On the more convenient nights, he wouldn't be at home at all.

Sanzo sighed and turned the envelope over in his hands. The envelope was addressed to 'Kouryu', a name that he couldn't quite bring himself to hate. He wanted to burn it, he had read all of the other letters for fun (old people had surprisingly colorful language when they were angry enough), but to read a letter like that from Koumyou...he honestly didn't know if he could stomach it.

He slit open the envelope and slid out a single sheet of paper, the paper smelled of herbs. Old herbs, but herbs nonetheless.

_Dear Kouryu,_

_Somehow, I think this would have been better said over the phone but forgive an old man of his forgetfulness, I seem to have lost your cell phone number somewhere and I've little desire try my luck with your actual house phone, I'm sure you're much more aware of how temperamental your mother can be, so I'll just leave it at that. _

_Your father phoned me a few weeks ago to inform me of your expulsion. Although I will agree that carrying a firearm to school is indeed a serious matter, I will say that his anger was rather unjustified, seeing how it was he that gave you the gun in the first place. I'm sure you had your own reasons, Kouryu, but I wish you would be more careful._

Sanzo put down the letter, let out a breath that he hadn't been aware of holding. The lead in his throat had disappeared. Koumyou was not angry. Disappointed, perhaps, but not angry. He picked the paper back up and continued.

_Knowing your father, I think he would have placed you under house arrest by now, not that I really think you'll learn anything from it. So I'd like to propose a modest proposition, I'm sure if I brought it up your parents would be delighted, and it'd save you from some boredom. I would like you to come stay with me in Chang'an for a while, my resort always needs extra hands, and I'm sure the country air will do you good. _

_Give me your reply and I'll try to work out the details as soon as possible. I'd also like to see you. You haven't been around in a while. _

_Your Uncle Koumyou_

_-_

The drive to Chang'an, way up in the mountains, took six hours. Sanzo was old enough to drive, but along with his gun, everything else was confiscated: his car, his computer, and his magazine subscriptions, particularly the ones advertising guns, even his newspaper subscriptions. They had almost gotten hold of his phone too, but he had hid it just in time and convinced them that he lost it.

He was glad his mother didn't decide to come, at least it was quiet. Sanzo and his father spoke very little, if at all.

They pulled into Chang'an in late afternoon, despite being a country town in the mountains, it was quite lively. Its liveliness probably contributed to Uncle Koumyou being bloody rich. Rich enough that even his father, who was never impressed by anything, except maybe an exceptional shot, was impressed.

It took another twenty minutes to reach Kinzan Onsen. To Sanzo's relief, Uncle Koumyou was standing outside with his usual faint smile tinged with something or the other, this time, it was tinged with amusement.

His father parked the car and popped the trunk without a word, and Sanzo got out to load one suitcase (it would have been two, if his mother could have helped it any) but in the end, it was Sanzo who won over and so it was one suitcase, and one backpack.

"Ah, it's good to see you, Kouryu," Koumyou smiled at him, "The last time I saw you, you were -this- small." He held one hand level with his elbow. "How old are you again? I forget."

"Eighteen, soon." Sanzo said.

"Time flies, doesn't it?" Koumyou laughed a light laugh, "One moment you're here all grown up and I'm here as a senile hermit."

Sanzo would never understand why his uncle was so keen on self-deprivation, and he would have defended him, if not for the fact that his father was standing there. So he said nothing. Normally, he liked riling his father, but not in front of Koumyou.

An awkward silence passed, and Sanzo shifted his bag to the other shoulder. Until his father finally cleared his throat and said rather gruffly, "If the boy's any trouble, give me a shout and I'll come haul him home."

Now that made Sanzo wonder, his father hadn't hauled anything, let alone his son, in years. The last time his father had done anything even close to discipline was eight years ago. Now he was just subject to his mother's incessant _screaming_. Which was worse, actually, he missed discipline.

Koumyou only smiled and shook his head, "Nonsense, I'd hate to trouble you for something as trivial as that. I'm sure Kouryu and I will get along, we always do. Are you sure that you don't want to stay the night? I've got plenty of rooms."

Sanzo was pleased to see that his father was suddenly in a hurry to leave. "No, thank you. I have to get back to the station before midnight, anyway. Everyone's shitting their pants about the case that just came in." And then he paused, and turned, looked at Sanzo.

"I'll stay out of trouble."

Sanzo loathed admitting something like that, but he had a feeling that his father wouldn't leave until he said something.

-

"Dinner is in an hour, if you want to rest up, you can." Koumyou told him, "Baths are down that way, and someone will come get you for dinner."

Sanzo looked around, this room was a lot like his room at home, the decorations were kept to a bare minimum (save for the painting of floating leaves on one wall, there was nothing else.) This was just further proof of how much Koumyou understood him, and just this once, Sanzo realized he didn't mind so much.

He put his suitcase to the side and looked at his uncle. He wanted to explain about the gun, so that Koumyou wouldn't think wrongly of him, but he couldn't find the right words to say. So he just nodded, "All right."

"Then, I'll take my leave."

Koumyou bowed, whether it was out of habit or otherwise, it was still strange to Sanzo. He awkwardly mirrored the gesture and straightened only when the bamboo screen door slid shut.

Alone, Sanzo changed into fresh clothes that didn't stink of sweat and his father's car. Then he led on the futon spread out for him and decided that it was more comfortable than his bed with dusty sheets back home.

Thinking about his dirty bedsheets segued quickly into thinking about his mother and Sanzo promptly shook the thought from his mind. He had an hour, he wanted a bath, but didn't want to get up.

But there was one thing he could do without getting up. Sanzo dug around in his pockets before unearthing a new pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Smoking was turning into a vice for him as of late, and to his chagrin, he hadn't been able to secure a safe supply before coming to Chang'an. He stared at the pack before he tore it open, this would probably last a week, if he smoked sparingly.

He inhaled a lungful of smoke and immediately felt his nerves settle.

There was a gentle knock against the screen, and Sanzo lay still.

The knocking persisted. Finally, he sat up, feeling his nerves beginning to flare again, "What?" He snapped harshly towards the door.

The screen slid open, inch by inch, and Sanzo found himself studying the other man that stood in his doorway. The first thing he noticed was the other's eyes were so green they _blazed_. The second thing he noticed was that the man wore a light yukata and then he remembered that this was an onsen resort and suddenly his own jeans and t-shirt seemed inappropriate.

The stranger spoke, he had a soft voice that reminded Sanzo of the white wisps of smoke that drifted from the tip of his cigarette to the ceiling.

"You must be Koumyou-san's nephew."

Sanzo nodded.

"You look just like Koumyou-san. I'm impressed." The man turned to slide the screens close, "May I call you Sanzo?"

Normally, he didn't like anyone getting so friendly with him right off, but the fact that stranger had paid him the greatest compliment that someone could pay, that he looked like Koumyou, Sanzo decided that it was all right. He nodded. "What do I call you?" Not that he wanted to ask.

"Oh, me?" The man seemed surprised that the question was reciprocated, "You can call me Hakkai. I'm your attendant. For tonight, anyway." He walked carefully measured steps to the futon, "May I offer one piece of advice?"

Hakkai was staring intently at his cigarette, Sanzo wanted to say no, but what came out was instead, "...Does it have to with my smoking? You can shove it, then."

"Yes, but I wasn't going to tell you to stop." Hakkai seemed superbly unperturbed, he even smiled. "Just...be careful that nothing catches on fire, it'd be rather troublesome."

"Oh."

"Now come on, we're already late for dinner."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Hello everyone! Thanks for reviewing the last chapter. I hope this chapter is just as fun and sorry if this update is kinda late. Real life is being really stupid lately.

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**The Elysian Twilight**

**02**

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They were late for dinner, not that Sanzo particularly minded—he still preferred a good smoke to food any day, but he felt sort of bad for whatever reason for making Hakkai miss his dinner. He made a point not to feel bad about anything, but Hakkai seemed like a nice enough guy.

"Oi! Hakkai! Over here!"

"Quit being so damn loud, you stupid monkey!"

"Don't call me a monkey, pervert."

"Well, then don't be so damn loud! It's not like Hakkai's across the room. Everyone's staring!"

...Maybe that was the reason Sanzo felt sympathetic? Hakkai led him to a table in the corner, a table that would have usually been inconspicuous, but given the table's current two occupants, he'd suddenly doubted it.

Both of them were strangers, but from what Sanzo knew of them (which was preciously little), they were damn good at attracting attention (the wrong kind). He stole a glance at Hakkai and his attendant seemed unfazed, in fact, Sanzo thought he was even a little amused. There was a boy with bright golden eyes that was shoving down food at a horrifying pace. That one had to be the monkey. The other one, with the red hair, reminded him too much of a cockroach.

"Sorry I'm late." Hakkai told them, turning from Sanzo for a minute. "Goku, Gojyo is kind of right, you know? If you make such a racket every time, I'll ask Koumyou-san to lock you in the kitchen with leftovers." He said it with such a smile, that Sanzo had to blink twice.

So the monkey boy was Goku, Sanzo filed that away for future reference. Goku properly looked chastised, and returned to shoveling food, although at a much more moderate speed this time, it was less frightening. Goku only looked up a moment later when he saw Sanzo looking.

With a mouth full of meat bun, he said, "Who are you?" Except more incoherently.

He would have punched the monkey, but then, Hakkai rescued him, "I must be getting old. I keep forgetting things." He laughed lightly, the laugh reminded Sanzo once again of Koumyou. "This is Koumyou-san's nephew. Genjyo Sanzo."

Goku appeared to be turning this information over in his mind, and then he swallowed, "...Oh...you mean the guy that was kicked out of school? _You're_ Sanzo?"

Sanzo's fist curled. If he saw Koumyou later and he was almost certain he would, he'd definitely give his uncle a piece of his mind about spreading out sensitive information like that...

The cockroach just had to chime in, "For someone who got kicked out of school, I was expecting someone totally badass..." and he had the nerve to sound disappointed.

Sanzo wished he had his gun.

Hakkai looked on between the three of them and when silence fell, he intervened, "Gojyo, Goku, we promised Koumyou-san to be sensitive, and we will be. Both of you will apologize. Now."

For what it was worth, it was just a little satisfying to see that Hakkai had his two pets on a tight leash. Even the cockroach colored the color of his hair. Goku looked remorseful again.

"Sorry, Sanzo."

Hakkai shot him an apologetic look, but he himself said nothing. He took a seat and gestured for Sanzo to sit too. But Sanzo just stood, suddenly, a smoke seemed more appealing than dinner with these...well, he wanted to say shit street urchins but all of them looked well-dressed. Even if he was just a bit hungry.

Something told him that his pack of smokes weren't going to last long.

"...Sanzo?"

"I'm not hungry."

-

Heeding Hakkai's earlier warning about not setting anything on fire while smoking, Sanzo refrained from returning to his room to smoke. Instead, he walked the many hallways, which all seemed to be deserted because all the guests were dining. There were a few attendants prowling around, but no one seemed to pay him especial attention, which he liked.

Sanzo finally stopped when he came upon a hallway that was a dead end. That, and it seemed to be deserted completely. He sank against the wall and pulled out a cigarette and his lighter.

He closed his eyes.

"Kouryu."

Sanzo started, and then stayed still. Koumyou knew he smoked; Koumyou just didn't know how much. And since Koumyou was not his father, it was none of his business. He peered up at the man, careful to blow the smoke up.

"So this is why you aren't at dinner? How very like you to sulk."

Sanzo bit his tongue. How very like Koumyou to say something like that. "...I'm not sulking. I just needed a smoke."

"Aren't you hungry?"

"Not so much." Sanzo shrugged one shoulder.

"Ah?"

Silence fell, and because everything was already silent, it made Sanzo want to fidget. "Actually...I wanted to ask you something. Why did you tell them about me getting expelled?"

Koumyou appeared to be thinking, and Sanzo was not happy that his uncle seemed to be taking his damn time. "Your father was very angry when he called me." he said finally, something that didn't answer the question in the slightest. "It was he that requested that you come, that I should knock some sense into you, Kouryu. Are you angry that I told them?"

Anger wasn't the right term for it, but whatever other emotion that made his blood boil, it certainly wasn't pleasant. "No, but it still makes me feel like shit." What really ticked him off was that his uncle told everyone to be _sensitive_. That just riled him.

"Perhaps it wasn't the smartest idea to bring a gun to school, yes? But hiding things gives you a sense of doing something wrong, and though it wasn't wise, I doubt it was wrong."

Sanzo was very tempted to believe him. His uncle had a ridiculously philosophical way of looking at things. Koumyou made even the stupidest mistakes seem oddly meaningful. He shrugged, "Maybe."

"Now go back and eat something. Hakkai said they were looking for a fourth member for a game of mahjong later. Weren't you pretty good at the game...?"

Koumyou walked away looking pleased, Sanzo didn't want to burst his uncle's bubble. Sanzo wasn't good at mahjong, it just so happened Koumyou was exceptionally bad. He crushed his burnt cigarette with the heel of his shoe.

-

Dinner was gone, in place of dinner was a pool of mahjong tiles, as Sanzo took the place had been meant for him in the first place, he felt three pairs of eyes on him. One pair was innocently curious (the monkey), another pair was smug (the stupid cockroach) and the last last pair of eyes merely exuded quiet concern, Hakkai.

"Sanzo, I saved you some food." Hakkai ventured, cautious.

Goku was quick to add, "But 's okay if you don't want it...I mean, I'll eat it." In fact, he sounded a little too hopeful.

"Stupid monkey, don't you _ever_ stop eating?" Gojyo interjected.

"I'll stop eating the day you stop trying to sneak into the girls' bath house, you pervert cockroach." Goku shot back.

"You shitty piece of--"

Sanzo felt his forehead prickle, he never did good with excessive noise, no matter how much training living with his mother had provided him. He looked over at Hakkai, who was sorting out the tiles. "I guess I'll take some food."

The moment he looked up from the mahjong tiles, Sanzo wished he hadn't. Goku and Gojyo had somehow managed to work themselves into a frenzied position where the latter was sprawled on of the former and it would have looked very disturbing if one didn't know that they were fighting to the death.

He looked at Hakkai again, "They always like this?"

His attendant sighed a small sigh, "...Unfortunately. I'll be right back with your food."

-

"Is it all right to leave them like that?"

Not that Sanzo particularly minded; actually, he was rather relieved that Goku and Gojyo were left to their own devices after overturning the table because Goku could have sworn that Gojyo cheated. He didn't have to listen very hard to hear:

"You friggin' _cheated_! I saw you!"

"Oh, yeah? Says who?"

Hakkai paused to look at him, the dusky light now made his green eyes look strangely eerie, and then he smiled, and everything was all right again, "Yes, it's fine. They make the mess, they clean up the mess. It's one of the very few rules that I've implemented. Even I get tired, Sanzo."

Playing mother hen to those two, who wouldn't? Even that, in Sanzo's opinion, Hakkai deserved medals. He shrugged, "You look like you're used to it."

"Oh, I am." Hakkai said as he began walking again, "But it's nothing remarkable. You're going to have to learn soon enough if you're going to be around here for a while."

Sanzo could have sworn that just the mere thought of getting along with the two delinquents they had left behind in the dining hall made him lose more than a couple of IQ points. "That's something I definitely have to look forward to." He said, sarcasm dripping from his voice, "Where are we going?"

"My room, Koumyou-san entrusted me with something to give you." Hakkai answered, "...Or would you rather me give it to you tomorrow? Are you tired?"

Now that Hakkai mentioned it, yes, Sanzo could feel his steps getting heavy, but he couldn't deny that his interest was piqued. What could Koumyou possibly have for him that he couldn't give to Sanzo himself? It had to be something interesting...or maybe it was just something his parents didn't approve of—like cigarettes. He found himself hoping it was cigarettes.

"I'm all right." Sanzo said, "Besides, you can't say something like that just to goad me."

Hakkai stopped again, and looked at him. At last, he shook his head, "No, I suppose not."

-

To Sanzo's surprise, Hakkai's room was a lot like his own, it was for the most part empty with no traces of personality, although he supposed that given what he saw of his attendant thus far, this was expected. The whole room was as neat as a pin, Sanzo would not have even thought a person lived here, had he not seen the one picture that sat neatly framed that sat on Hakkai's dresser.

It was a picture of Hakkai and a woman. A rather pretty woman. Sanzo promptly slapped himself (mentally).

He hadn't been aware of how intently he was staring until a hand touched his shoulder and he slapped it away, only by instinct.

"I found it. Koumyou-san told me to hide it well, so it took a while to find, I'm sorry."

It was a cardboard box that was taped shut. Sanzo took his attention away from the picture and turned to the box instead. It couldn't be cigarettes, unless Koumyou bought him a year's worth.

Hakkai slit the tape neatly with his fingernails.

Sanzo opened the box to find lots of Styrofoam, he felt around in the box until he grasped something cold and metal...and familiar.

It was a gun.

He was dumbfounded, "Koumyou-jiisan told you to...give this to me?"

"You don't want it? I'll take it back."

Sanzo examined the firearm, it was old, that much he could tell, yet the fact that his pacifist Uncle Koumyou owned a gun was...well, unexpected. "Did he say why?"

"It was lying around. And you're the only nephew he has that's a decent shot. You might as well take it." Hakkai closed the box and slid it against the wall. "I'm supposed to take you out sometimes to let you fire a few shots for practice. But Koumyou-san did not give this to you, and obviously, you're not supposed to let any of the others know about this, especially Goku and Gojyo. "

"Does that mean I don't get to shoot them?"

"That's not very funny." Hakkai's smile slipped just a little.

No, Sanzo supposed it wasn't, but he hadn't meant it entirely in jest, there were always people that he wanted to shoot on the spot, Goku and Gojyo happened to unfortunately be those types of people in their respective ways. He flipped the gun around. Holding a gun used to be second nature, but after a month-long hiatus, the molded metal felt heavy and weighted.

Hakkai spoke again, "However, I think shooting will have to wait until tomorrow, you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow and you should sleep. Should I walk you back to your room or will you be all right?"

Sanzo decided that Hakkai was a little too damn _nice, _and he didn't deal well with nice people, in fact, he preferred not to deal with people at all. He stood up, and he looked at the gun, "I'm going to come back for this. And I'll be fine."

Hakkai smiled, "All right then, I'll keep this safe. Good night."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Hello everyone! Thanks for reading chapter two and leaving lovely comments. This chapter is a poor attempt at foreshadowing, but I think I did decent...-sighs- Summer is melting my brain...but school is starting soon. And now I'm just rambling for the sake of upping my word count. I'll stop now n.n Please enjoy!!

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**The Elysian Twilight**

**03**

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Sanzo's pride took a serious lashing when it took him a full half hour to get back to his room, as apposed to a mere ten minutes. He blamed it on exhaustion, a convenient, overused excuse, even cliché. Exhaustion, and the dark. But it was, above all else, convenient, and he was too tired to think. Not that he wasn't grateful for Koumyou's gun, but still...

He lay quietly on his futon and lit a cigarette, and when the joint burned out, he slept.

-

There was a soft rap on the bamboo screen, Sanzo buried—or at least attempted to bury himself further into his blankets to keep the monotonous tapping at bay. But it persisted, much like the day before, and he finally opened one eye.

All he saw was blackness, it seemed reason enough go back to closing both eyes

Still, the tapping continued, and then stopped.

"...Sanzo, you're awake, aren't you?" Came a very familiar voice.

"I wasn't until _someone_ woke me." He said as menacingly as possible with eyes closed and sleep still clawing at him. Which, admittedly, wasn't very. "Don't you have any idea what time it is?"

"Of course I do, it's 5:30 in the morning and we do need to get a move on." The screen slid halfway open, and then stopped. "I'm coming in, but are you decent?"

"It's 5:30 in the morning. It's not even light out." Sanzo grumbled, "I'm decent."

"It's _because_ it's 5:30 in the morning." The darkness over his eyes suddenly disappeared, leaving only Hakkai's cheerfully smiling face, "Come on, get up. The baths open in one hour, you have to help me clean."

"Isn't that what the monkey and the cockroach are here for?"

"Yes, but they clean the men's baths, I don't trust them where we have to clean." Hakkai said, "No more excuses, get up. There's time enough for you to nap later. And you _are_ here to help Komyou-san, aren't you? So you might as well do something useful while you're at it."

Sanzo wanted to ask what Hakkai had been doing before he came. And why was a male attendant doing cleaning the women's baths anyway? But he had said that he'd help out. "All right, all right, I'm up. Just stop nagging."

Hakkai looked surprised, "Do I nag?" As if Hakkai didn't know it.

"Yes, unfortunately. I can stand you otherwise." Sanzo tossed back his covers, he hadn't bothered to change last night, so he was still in his jeans and t-shirt. By instinct, he reached for a cigarette and his lighter, both of which were in their respective pockets. He was not happy, first, being roused at 5:30 was not a good idea, because Sanzo was not a morning person. Furthermore, there was a nagging person in his room, and he was almost out of cigarettes. He would have to economize today.

"You sleep with your lighter and your cigarettes in your pockets?"

"It's never been a problem before." Sanzo inhaled deeply and blew smoke towards the ceiling. "Will you take me to buy some cigarettes later? I'm almost out."

"I'll never approve of the habit, but I suppose." Hakkai shrugged, "Will you forgive me for nagging?"

Sanzo inhaled some more, "...Hn." Maybe, but then, if Hakkai wanted to be forgiven for the transgression waking him up at 5:30 in the morning, he still had a long way to go.

-

"What? _Sanzo_ gets to clean the women's baths?" Gojyo's eyes bulged, "And he gets to _smoke_? What the hell _is_ this? You better not be giving him all this special privilege crap because he's Koumyou's nephew, Hakkai. I actually behaved myself this week, you owe me one."

"...You're welcome to take my job if you want it." Sanzo scoffed, puffing diligently on his cigarette, "It's not like I volunteered for it..." There was more he wanted to say, but then he saw the look in Hakkai's eyes and fell wisely silent.

"Gojyo, please don't sulk." Hakkai went back to smiling, as if nothing happened, "You know I need someone to help me keep Goku in line. You know you can do it better than me. Come on, Sanzo."

"Damn it! Why am I always stuck looking after that stupid monkey??" Gojyo bellowed after them.

Hakkai quickened his steps, "Oh, dear, I think Gojyo's on the verge of a tantrum again...I think it's really in our best interest to hurry up."

Sanzo failed to see how any of this was amusing.

-

"Hakkai."

"Hmm?"

"This is humiliating."

"Is it? I've been doing it for so long that I forget. Well, good thing that the baths aren't open yet, it's just the two of us."

Yes, to Sanzo, scrubbing a giant tub in the women's baths in a countryside onsen was beyond humiliating. No matter if the said springs belonged to his uncle and it happened to be a rather famous onsen. It still felt like he was some lowlife doing cheap manual labor. He scrubbed a stain that refused to come off with a scowl. "Like I said, I didn't volunteer for this."

"Don't sulk. I promise I'll make it up to you later." Hakkai chided, "Besides, forgive me for saying, but it's nice to clean in silence for once." Looking over, he saw the stain, "...And leave that stain alone, it never comes off, I have no idea what it is."

Sanzo paused, "...Silence?" He echoed rather dumbly.

"Before you came, refusing Gojyo's help wasn't easy. I was lucky if Goku didn't tag along. Refusing Gojyo was another story." His attendant merely smiled. "So it's nice to clean in peace and quiet and I only have to do my own share of work." and then Hakkai's smile was a thoughtful one, "Perhaps it's a little selfish for me to think that way...?"

Sanzo kept quiet. He dipped his cloth in the bucket of water again, and resolved to scrub some other spot other than the stain since Hakkai told him to leave it alone. It was a small stain either way and he doubt anyone was looking for it.

At least, when the silence stretched to the limit and snapped, Sanzo spoke.

"Must be hard on you. Dealing with idiots all day."

"Don't say that." Was the admonishment he received for his sympathy. "They're friendly enough, after a while. Besides..."

"Besides...?"

Hakkai started a moment, as if he had just realized what had left his mouth. And then he shook his head. "...Never mind, it's just me being silly again, forget I said anything." With that, he dropped his own cloth into the bucket, and glanced around, "The baths hasn't been this clean in ages. Thank you."

"Oh." Sanzo found himself momentarily at a loss, "...So I guess...we're done?"

"The baths open in ten minutes exactly, I'm not Gojyo, so I think it's just about time to get out of here." Hakkai got up, "I'm your attendant, after all, it's my job to make sure you have a good impression of this place. Let's go clean up."

-

Presently, Sanzo found himself standing in the midst of another bath. This one, though nowhere as glamorous as the one they had just cleaned, was still quite a respective bath. "Where is this?"

"It's the attendants' private baths." Hakkai answered readily, "It's breakfast now, so it's quiet. Gojyo and Goku are almost certainly going to rip this place up later, so it's easier if we just beat them to it. You don't mind, do you? We can always get something to eat when I take you out to buy what you need later. There's a nice dumpling house that Goku likes."

"Oh." Breakfast later meant going far away from the cockroach and the monkey, a welcome idea. But the dumpling house Goku liked--

"Don't worry. I'm the only one with a car. It's not easy for them to get around without me." Hakkai finished his thought. "Unless Gojyo's latest girlfriend has a car, but he's been liking them younger and younger lately, so I doubt it. Don't just stand there, go wash up and get in."

-

When Sanzo came out with his hair damp and wearing as the baths decreed—only a towel. He couldn't help but feel, for the first time, a little bit out of his element. Hell if he was going to let that on, though. He was glad to see that it was a big tub and that Hakkai was already in it, and it gave him an excuse to sit far enough away.

Although he still couldn't pinpoint the exact reason for his uneasiness. It wasn't embarrassment, he knew that much. After a while, Hakkai ventured:

"So how did you sleep last night?"

"All right. The cicadas were noisy."

"Oh."

There was another silence, and from across the tub, Hakkai looked thoughtful. After a moment, Sanzo watched him as he raised a hand to brush back his bangs and Sanzo started.

He hadn't noticed it before, but where one eye was bright emerald green, the other...was scarred permanently and swollen shut, Hakkai's hair had done a good job of hiding the defect until now. He considered a long minute and then said, "...What happened to your eye?"

Hakkai looked away.

Maybe he shouldn't have asked.

"I grew up in the orphanage. I wasn't very popular there and...this was the result of some kid throwing a rock. It's not a fond memory. I try to forget about it."

Once again, there was silence. This time, it was a stifling one.

At last, Sanzo said, "Sorry." It wasn't a word that easily left his mouth, and yet, he was surprised, even shocked, at how easy it left for his attendant.

"It's all right, you didn't know." _But now you do and I expect you not to mention it again._

Usually, Sanzo wasn't one for easy conversation, but sitting here in the onsen with a stifling silence hanging warningly over their heads wasn't something he particularly liked. "How old are you?" It was a lame question, but at least it kept Hakkai talking.

"I'll be twenty soon, so will Gojyo. Goku's young, he's sixteen. Technically, he's not allowed to work here, but he has a debt he has to pay off to Koumyou-san and you know your uncle is very kind."

Hakkai was twenty. Sanzo glanced up from staring at his hands.

The thought was fleeting but it was there – the girl on Hakkai's dresser looked older than twenty. But Sanzo knew he had overstepped too many bounds already.

"Sanzo, are you all right?"

He started again, "I'm just thinking."

"What about?"

Sanzo thought, he couldn't very well betray his current line of thought. So he shrugged, "...I don't know. Nothing important. After we buy my cigarettes and eat, can you take me shooting?"

"It's not really safe to shoot in broad daylight since there are so many people around, but if I can preoccupy Goku and Gojyo, we'll see." Abruptly, Hakkai stood up, and Sanzo felt his face burn with a strange warmness as he looked down again. "There should be extra robes in the closet by the showers, go

get dressed."

"Oh." But Sanzo waited until Hakkai walked into the showers and then got up. He was relieved when he heard the water running.

Sanzo rummaged the closet and picked out a robe, and had it half on when a thought struck him, "Hakkai?"

"Yes?"

"If we're going out later, shouldn't we be in our regular clothes?"

He heard footsteps and kept his eyes down, when he dared look up, Hakkai was dressed. "I suppose." His attendant shrugged, "Do you think you have any that might fit me?"

This surprised him, Hakkai didn't have any regular clothes, or perhaps there was some other reason. Sanzo nodded, "I should."

-

Sanzo had to admit, even though Hakkai looked a little awkward in jeans and a dress shirt, such garb suited his attendant. The 'car' that seemed to be everyone's lifeline turned out to be a beat-up jeep from fifty years ago, or so it seemed. That annoyed him, it further annoyed him when Goku and Gojyo popped out from nowhere.

"Where ya going, Hakkai?" Goku wanted to know, "You're mean for not telling us, you know?"

Hakkai smiled, "Since Sanzo and I missed breakfast this morning, I was thinking of taking him to the dumpling house that Houmei-san owns."

"Wha?" Gojyo frowned, "You were going to get dumplings and see a pretty girl without telling me? That's bullshit!"

Hakkai's smile remained the same, "I thought Chung-fei-chan kept you plenty busy. And the two of you can't go. I already talked to Koumyou-san about it. He said it'd be good for Sanzo to get a feel of this place. I'll take you two along next time. Might I remind you I'm not exactly recovered from how Mahjong ended yesterday."

Sanzo nodded just to agree. Although he was positive that Hakkai hadn't done any of those things.

"...That ain't fair."

"Sorry, Gojyo."

"Will you at least bring me back some dumplings? Please? Please? I promise I'll behave."

Hakkai got in the jeep, Sanzo followed suit. Hakkai smiled at Goku, a kind smile, "If you promise not to break anything in my absence, I suppose I can manage. Gojyo, look after him, won't you?"

"Do I have a choice?" The cockroach spat. "...Oh, yeah, and where'd you get the clothes?"

"These?" Hakkai turned his smile towards Sanzo for a brief second, and Sanzo felt that weird lifting feeling...again. Like he had in the baths, when Hakkai had stood up wearing only a towel. It was altogether a strange and unsettling feeling. "Sanzo lent them to me. I think they suit me." He started up the ancient jeep with a jumbled roar and lifted a hand.

"We'll be back soon, try not to give Koumyou-san too much of a headache while I'm gone."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Hi all, sorry for the late update, got kinda stuck so I had to get back on track. After this chapter, everything will be more interesting, I promise! Thanks for all your support!

* * *

_**The Elysian Twilight**_

_**04**_

* * *

"Oh, Hakkai-san! Goku-kun is not with you today?"

The Lung Dumpling House was crowded for a weekday, Sanzo noticed. Maybe because Chang'an was first and foremost a tourist town and every day was vacation. But the smells that eventually persuaded even Sanzo were compelling. The girl who had spoken looked to be a waitress in uniform.

"Houmei-san." Hakkai looked a little ashamed of himself, "No, Goku's not with me today. He misbehaved, so I had no choice but to leave him at home. I promised to bring him back some dumplings though, if you're nice enough to give us some leftovers." He winked.

"You're giving Goku-kun leftovers?" She looked properly scandalized.

"It's not as bad as it sounds. He wolfs it all down so fast that he probably wouldn't even notice." Hakkai raised his hands in self-defense. Looking around for something to defend himself with, he settled on Sanzo. "Anyway, this is my friend Sanzo. He's visiting from the city. And Sanzo, this is Lung Houmei, the Dumpling House is her brainchild. But sometimes, I get the feeling that I'm more proud of it than she is."

Sanzo was momentarily taken back by how easily Hakkai used the word 'friend', so easily, that it almost rang true. Except that it wasn't, it couldn't be. Genjyo Sanzo did not have any friends. But he nodded and voiced an obligatory greeting, "Pleased to meet you."

"The pleasure's mine, of course, Sanzo-san." She dimpled at him, and then turned to Hakkai again, "Aunty would like to know where you get all these really good looking friends, Hakkai-san."

Sanzo blanched, and Hakkai laughed easily, "Well, you know, they come around. I meet plenty of strange people too, at the onsen."

_Yeah_, Sanzo thought as he saw Gojyo and Goku in his mind's eye. _Real strange, more like brainless._

"Sanzo?"

Hakkai's voice, Sanzo shook himself and looked around. Hakkai was not standing next to him anymore, rather, he was sitting at a corner table quietly laughing behind his hand. There were actually no indications that his attendant had actually been laughing, but the girl was giggling.

He walked over to them and slumped down in the seat. "Quit laughing at me."

"I wasn't laughing. Wherever did you get that idea?"

And it was true, Hakkai certainly didn't sound like he had been laughing, but still. Sanzo wanted to say something rude and utterly condescending but as Houmei was still there giggling, he refrained. Instead, he hid his face in the menu.

But then the menu was gone, and Houmei was gone. And Hakkai's eyes were still twinkling from across the table. Sanzo glowered at him, "You're enjoying this."

"Of course I am." Hakkai answered readily, "It's not everyday I get to enjoy sane company."

Sanzo bit back,_ 'then why do you bother?' _and took a sip of tea instead. As unflattering as the compliment was, that strange warmth tingled in his stomach.

-

At the end of the meal, Sanzo had to admit his mood had lifted, although in the private recesses of his own mind, he refused to admit that his mood change had to do with Hakkai, or the food. It had to do with the fact that he was one step closer to getting his supplies of cigarettes replenished.

The dumplings were delicious, and they had been eaten in blessed, blessed silence. The quiet allowed him to think...and very inconspicuously study his companion from across the table. Sanzo only stopped when he was about to admit something quite embarrassing to himself.

And Hakkai saw him looking.

"Is there something on my face?"

Sanzo took the opportunity to raise his eyes again, "No."

Hakkai looked surprised, but then he was not. He pushed back his chair, "I thought there was, the way you were looking."

Now Sanzo wondered if he really had been so obvious. He said nothing even though he knew perfectly well that Hakkai was waiting for one.

But Houmei rescued him, coming by their table and dropping off a box. "This is for Goku-san. Tell him I said hi, okay?"

-

"She likes _Goku_?"

That thought was unthinkable. Thinking it even halfway through made Sanzo's brain malfunction. And Hakkai just laughed at him as he guided the jeep around a bumpy corner. "I thought it was quite obvious."

"I don't...notice these types of things." It was a pain to force the words out of his throat all at once. "Besides...the way she—giggled, I thought she liked you." 'giggled' was such a hard word to say that he forgot to stutter through the rest of his sentence.

Hakkai spared him an odd glance. "...She's fifteen, it's not legal."

That was more embarrassing than Hakkai laughing. Why was Sanzo always getting the short end of the stick in their conversations? It was starting to get irritating. So he kept his mouth shut until the jeep stopped at a little shack – Chang'an's excuse for a convenience store. You'd think that they could afford something more extravagant if they called themselves a tourist town. Sanzo was not impressed.

Until Hakkai said, "Gojyo's brother owns this place. It's cheaper."

Cigarettes were cheap, no matter where you went. But the fact that Hakkai seemed to understand his addiction without berating him was refreshing. Sanzo made a mental note to make it up to his attendant later...or, attempt to, anyway.

Gojyo's older brother turned out to be a man who looked like he bathed in oil on a regular basis, and also smelled pleasantly of smoke. He looked nothing like Gojyo. At all. He was at the dirty counter reading a similar (dirty) magazine when they entered, he had dirty clothes on too.

"Hakkai."

"Hello, Jien-san."

"Gojyo in trouble again?" The man gave Hakkai a stern glance. A glance that, Sanzo was very surprised to see, didn't make him flinch at all. Or perhaps, given what he had seen of Hakkai so much, maybe it wasn't at all unexpected.

"No, no. Of course not." Hakkai approached the counter, "We're actually here to pick up some cigarettes."

"You smoke?"

"They're...not for me." Hakkai said, "You know I don't smoke." And then he gestured to Sanzo, who struggled to understand why he felt so awkward, he knew it wasn't Hakkai, and it wasn't this Jien person, and it certainly was not because he was hungover when he wasn't supposed to be.

"This is Genjyo Sanzo, he's the one who's unfortunate enough to need a vice." Hakkai announced cheerfully.

Sanzo couldn't decide whether or not to be offended as Jien laughed out loud and handed over a pack of cigarettes. As if it was funny.

"Bye Hakkai, be careful out there." Jien said, when they were set to leave.

Be careful? The warning sparked something in Sanzo's mind, it seemed an odd warning for a place so safe.

But his attendant only smiled, "You too."

-

Days became weeks, and everything gradually fell into place by the time Sanzo's stay in Chang'an hit the one month mark. He found that he liked things here in Chang'an, uncomplicated, yet still, with Goku and Gojyo on the scene to be constantly scolded, things were never dull. Uncle Koumyou was always there to offer his wisdom at the most unexpected times on the most random of subjects, but that too, became endearing.

And Hakkai...who was an enigma on the first day, still was.

Sanzo gave up trying to understand him, but what bothered him the most was that Hakkai also made him misunderstand himself. Like the first time they had gone out shooting after dinner when Gojyo and Goku were (unhappily) preoccupied with dishes.

He was rusty, and the first time he had let fly a bullet, the bullet had struck a squirrel, which he hadn't intended to hit. Sanzo's actual target had been a fruit that had wilted on the branches, forgotten and nestled between a couple of leaves several feet away.

"I don't like killing." Hakkai had said, and that statement made Sanzo unusually guilty. He felt like he had really killed the squirrel, instead of shooting it by accident.

And as the days rolled by, Sanzo found himself studying Hakkai in the onsen without blushing so much. For the life of him, he couldn't pinpoint _why_. Why was a single droplet of hot water that dripped down the side of Hakkai's neck suddenly worth so much of his attention?

Sanzo pulled the trigger.

And Gojyo was not helping. Gojyo quiet was already not helping in the first place. Gojyo, when he ventured to open his mouth, which was, unfortunately, quite often—was downright unproductive. "...Didja notice? I mean, you must've, Hakkai keeps lookin' at you all funny."

He shot again.

It went both ways, Sanzo begrudgingly admitted. Although he had thought he was being inconspicuous enough so that a loudmouth like Gojyo wouldn't pick up on it and spread it around. Well, he had picked up...but he hadn't spread it around yet, so here was to hoping.

And again.

Sanzo put down the gun, it hung loosely at his side, and looked at Hakkai, who always distanced himself when he was shooting. He had a book in his hand, but it was too dark to read.

"Hakkai."

"Hm?"

"I have two shots left. Do you want to shoot?" Sanzo sounded very generous to his own ears. "It's late...so I doubt you'll hit anything. Or, I'd make sure you don't hit anything."

Hakkai hesitated, "I've never shot a gun."

"Try it." Sanzo held out the firearm, "There's a first time for everything."

That made Hakkai laugh, "I try not to be a victim of cliches, Sanzo, but if you insist."

Later, Sanzo would laugh at those words. But now, since he didn't know any better, he handed his gun over and almost shuddered at the way Hakkai's fingers brushed against his just so. He wondered if it would be possible to be drunk without drinking.

"What's my target?"

Sanzo's eyes wandered, something obvious, and easy to hit. Finally, he settled on a tree fifty yards away, "That tree." He pointed.

Hakkai considered, and then nodded, "I guess. You should stand behind me so I don't hit you."

Unless Hakkai's aim was way off...which Sanzo doubted. But he obeyed, and retreated behind Hakkai, as the other man raised the gun. For a man who claimed to have never shot, Hakkai's natural posture was something of a marvel. Slowly, the gun leveled itself with the target and then he stopped.

"Hakkai?"

"I don't think I can do this."

Sanzo was annoyed, "It's not like I'm asking you to shoot a person. You're shooting a goddamn tree."

A light laugh left Hakkai's lips, "Do you know what that means?"

"To shoot someone?"

"Yes."

Sanzo hesitated, yes, he knew. He knew more than other almost eighteen-year-olds because when his father was in a good mood, he put a gun in his already trigger-happy son's hands and took him along for official police stakeouts. Once, when he was sixteen, he got lucky and shot some poor chap in the ankle.

"It's a tree."

Hakkai turned to him, and Sanzo found the gun barrel pressed against his forehead.

"What if...it was a person?"

Sanzo's lungs sucked all of the air out of him in a hurry. "What are you doing?"

"Still want me to shoot?" Teasing, taunting.

"What the hell's _wrong_ with you?"

Hakkai lowered the firearm and handed it back. Sanzo accepted the offering with numb hands. Hakkai laughed, "I guess...I'm a little drunk. Sorry if I scared you."

Cho Hakkai was never drunk. That much he learned, that much Sanzo knew, but when another pair of lips met his own, he tasted alcohol, copious amounts of it. There was something wrong with all this. But somehow he couldn't bear to push the other away.

Then the other man broke away, "Muscle spasm." He announced cheerily.

Something was wrong, Sanzo repeated the thought in his head as firmly as he could, but for some reason, that was all right. If he didn't think about it... "Do you think I could get something to drink?"

The smile that he received in return was unexpectedly dazzling, "You'll owe me."


End file.
